At home, Adriana had to give up her bed for the guest. She had to sleep on the sofa in the hall which separated her parents’ bedroom from her own. She undressed quickly, impatient to get beneath the covers, to be alone in her reveries.
Lately, she had started to find that going to bed was a pleasure. She liked feeling her naked body stretching between the sheets, its movements slackening, sinking into its own heat. She forced herself to stay awake; more than the oblivion of sleep, she longed to drink in this sensation, her body at once her own and that of a stranger.
She crossed one leg over the other, lifted it slightly, closed her legs again, thrilled with this unfathomable game which only sleep would draw to an end.
Adriana was a diligent girl and Mrs. Dunea a vigilant mother. This w
